Hi Elaine,
I hope you dont' mind if i quote you, but i always decided to reply to someone, and then forget what i was talking about. I quoted you so that i could remember too. You said:
"I did have my first panic attack in over 4 years last week when I was walking with my daughter to the library. It was a real intense one that kind of came in waves for almost an hour and then just went away. Could it just be an isolated occurance or should I be prepared for others."
First of all, i can relate to this type of panic attack. I have not had any serious episodes of panic in almost a year. However, the odd time, i experience a panic attack for no apparent cause. Mine also last a long time, and come in waves. I actually found that that was a perfect way to describe it, its like a continuous assault, before you can recover, it hits you again.
Realistically, i don't think that you can ever be sure that you'll never have another panic attack. I think that whether or not this one instance becomes an episode depends on you. First of all, don't be so afraid to have a panic attack, that you have a panic attack over it. Secondly, don't give it too much thought. Stay positive and stong mentally, its probably your best defence. One trick i've found works for me, but may sound silly to others, is to talk to my panic. No, i don't have conversations with it (No point, clearly it doesn't want to reason), but i do tell it, out loud or in my head, to go away. I say that i can't deal with you right now, so go away until later. It actually does go away! AND it doesn't tend to come back. Try not to think of anything during your panic attack except how good you'll feel after its gone. I have often fallen into the trap where during a panic attack, i'll think about past ones. This generally increases the severity. In sum, i've learned that a panic attack is not the end of the world. If one catches me by surprise, i know it will go away. My main focus is to not let one panic attack escalate into many, b/c long periods of panic attacks CAN feel like the end of the world.
On a completely different note, thanks for giving me the opportunity to write this down! I've been feeling for the past few days like panic attacks are on the horizon, i have a lot of stres
